Day to day journal of installation, embroidery, and fiber arts created by Susan Lenz

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

This piece needs a title ,,, please help!

(Above: Untitled cradle full of wrapped and stitched wooden spools. The piece NEEDS A TITLE! Click on any image to enlarge.)

I love wooden spools ... always have. I've made several pieces using them. Right now, there's a group in a fiber vessel at Lorton, Virginia's Workhouse Art Center's "Art of Fiber" national juried show. That piece even sold! It's called Ancestors. I made so many last December that I have two pieces with the same name. The second group will be on display in the 33rd annual Mesa Contemporary Crafts national juried show from Jan. 27 - March 18, 2011. Both pieces have been in exhibitions before ... at the same time. (The original blog post for Ancestors is HERE.)

Still, I seem to collect more wooden spools ... but I don't want to repeat exactly the same thing. Ancestors suggested that each little spool was like a family member from past generations. Collectively, they gave the appearance of a "family tree" and evoked memories and traditions and handicrafts of grandmothers and great grandmothers. The work is personal while still being universal. So ... what to do with the next couple of hundred wooden spools?

On the drive to Slippery Rock for Thanksgiving, I wrapped and stitched spools. While there, I acquired even more spools ... once my grandmother's. I don't really know how many there are.

Well, I got the wooden cradle at Bill Mishoes' every-other-Tuesday-night, walk-around auction of used household items ... my very favorite place for "found objects". A little glue on spindles that were literally falling out stabilized the structure. I cut old shutter slats for the cradle's bed and fashioned a "mattress" from an old pillowslip and feather pillow. (Boy was that fun ... feathers all over the living room!)

The work is done ... but I still haven't landed on the perfect title. To me, each spool is like a narrative ... a tale spun in thread ... a story told in yarn ... a yarn told to a child ... the thread of life as a bedtime fable. So ... I need help! Here are the titles I've been wrestling with:

77 comments:

I've been going round inn circles trying to come to a decision thinking about cradles and nurturing but I think 'Bedtime Stories' says a lot about what's going on. Your beautiful spools have stories of their own in the labels that still attach to them and the more you look at them the more you see in them. Not wishing to muddy the waters, their shape and decoration reminds me of native drums and their decoration.

Thgis has had me thinking for ages...eventually l came up with this..Stories and Memories or ancestoral memories or entwinned memories or last but not least, Future heirlooms!!!! good luck with choosing. Love the piece.xxxxwould love to own it no matter what it was called!xxlynda

I think you have hit the nail on the head with 'Bedtime Stories', because of the implied story in each and every spool, and the fact that thread/yarn/tangled threads evoke the idea of stories. What a wonderful installation!

I think Bedtime Stories is perfect! Each one of those spools is a story in itself, and having them in an child's cradle suggests to me that this child is going to grow up happy and secure hearing all the stories about family.

I don't have a title, but just wanted to say I have that exact cradle! My family brought it with them when they immigrated here from Germany in the 1700's. My Mother had it restored and gave it to me when I was expecting my one and only child. With my daughter, that made 6 generations and over 50 babies that slept in that cradle. It still has all the little teeth marks from where the babies teethed on the wood.

Can I ask you what you paid for the cradle. I've never had mine appraised.

I agree with Julie, I also find the spools symbolically native somehow. Be that aboriginal, american indian, south american or the shaman spiritual.........its a hand drum symbol that can cross all cultures for differiung reasons. yet it speaks of human contact and endeavor in more ways than the stitches.Love the piece, its very touching.

I guess it could also be The Spools of Life ~ from the cradle to the grave......lolgood luck !

Thank you to EVERYONE here and on Facebook. I have a long list of lovely, potential titles. I'm still mulling it over but will write a blog post when the decision has been made. Many of the titles suggest "new work". It has been so interesting to read how a single work resonates differently with others. Fascinating and I am humbled by the willingness so many had by suggesting a title. Thank you!

I find these stitched spools fascinating. And like others have mentioned, my first impression was also of native drums. But when I clicked to enlarge the photos, I was reminded of the needlework samplers that young girls once stitched so long ago. As for a potential title ... "Tell Me a Story" or "Sweet Dreams"?

Susan, I love your spools! What a wonderful way to use them. Do you---or will you have a tutorial on making them? I have a collection of old wooden spools and would love to do something like this with them. Spools of Love.

I love the look of these. They remind me of the ancient Incan quipus - the knotted strings used to tell stories or send messages. Something about the story being told by the various knots and stitches.

google Joseph Cornell. These would make a great specimin box, "assemblage." I used wooden spools as Prayer wheels in a themed assemblage box, printing words on them that represented spirituality of the person the box was for/and about. Then in the box I put them on spindles so you can spin them. I'll post a picture on pinterest, but I don't know how you'd ever find it. So you'll have to use your imagination to know what it looks like!

I love these! Just like lots of others who have commented I have some spools and you are now my inspiration! I would have to choose THREADS OF LIFE, I also collect dollies, and anything that is had sewn or embroidered, and I always think of the women who made them, wondering what their life was like and wishing we had the simply life they had, well maybe simple is the wrong word, but they took the time for the things they loved to do with their hands! Love these!

Spools of Fun Times would be my choice really like this idea I have lots of wooden spools. I have seen them made into wreaths and necklaces. Mostly painted but I like the stitches idea. Might just have to pull out my stash of goodies and see what I can come up with.

"CRADLE ME SOFT" I don't know how old this is but that is what came to me when I first saw the tubby spools filled with soft colours and kinda reminded me of the different ethnicities in the world babies and they all "even us big babies" need to be cradled at times...

WORK FOR SALE!

About Me

Using a needle and thread for self-expression, I
work to create art that reflects my interest in the concept of time.Memory, universal mortality, and personal
legacy are central themes.Vintage and
recycled materials are combined with meticulous handwork. Stitched text and
free motion machine embroidery add visual and emotional layers. Work is often
exhibited in an installation format in order to better communicate message
through an accessible atmosphere.I am drawn
to textiles for their tactile qualities and often make work that is meant to
touch and be touched.

Current and Upcoming

TEDxColumbiaSC, January 19th at Haribson Theater at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, 7300 College Street, Irmo, SC. Susan is one of the presenters! Her "idea worth sharing" is in a talk called Precious. VIDEO COMING SOON!

Text Messages, a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) traveling exhibition premiering at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX from Oct. 31 - Nov. 4, 2013. Moving to The International Quilt Festival in Chicago, IL from June 20 -22, 2014; the International Quilt Festival in Portand, OR from Aug. 13 - 16, 2014; the Round Bobbin Quilting and Sewing Expo in St. Charles, MO from Sept. 19-20, 2014; Morris Museum in Morrison, NJ from Nov. 14, 2015 - Mar. 20, 2016. Included piece: Texting From the Grave.

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) 25th Anniversary Traveling Truck Show, Collection E, at the Festival Internancional de Patchwork e Arts Afins, Curitiba, Brazil from August 27 - 30, 2014; touring Virginia and North Carolina from October - November 2014; and touring Colorado, Wyoming and Utah from December 2014 through the end of February 2015. Included piece: Sweet Dreams.

Photo to Fabric, an on-line, February 2015 exhibition guest curated by Priscilla Stultz on the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) website. Included piece: Skirt! Is a Rebel ... which can be viewed HERE!

2015 American Craft Council Show in Atlanta. March 13 - 15, 2015 with a preview party on March 12. Included work: The Stained Glass Window series and the "In Box" series.

OPEN STUDIOS, a 701 CCA event in Richland county, South Carolina. Saturday, April 11th from 10 - 6 and Sunday, April 12th from noon - 6. Susan's "Home" studio and house, 2123 Park Street, will be part of this free-to-the-public event. There will be some "special" prices on art, mirrors, and other items.

The Liberated Quilt: New Workfrom Through Our Hands, Bilston Craft Gallery, Bilston, West Midlands, UK, May 9 - July 25, 2015. Included work: I Do / I Don't, an installation of wedding veils.

Southern Highlights, an invitational fiber exhibition at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts in Melbourne, FL from May 15 - Aug. 22nd. Included piece: Death of Desire.

Artist Statement

Generally using needle and thread for self-expression, Susan Lenz works to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in discarded things.She seeks a partnership with her materials, their purposes, values, and familiar associations. Memory, universal mortality, and personal legacy are central themes.Vintage and recycled materials are combined with meticulous handwork.Susan is drawn to textiles for their tactile qualities and often makes work that is meant to touch and be touched.